Review by Laura Cameron
Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho is the final bottle of ink that I purchased from Jesi at the St. Louis Pen Show (backed up much?). I was very intrigued by this one since Ina-ho translate to “rice ear.”
Ina-ho is a brown gold color, named as such after the fields of rice ears that turn golden before harvest.
This one doesn’t have any shimmer or sheen that I can see, but tons of lovely shading that ranges between a light gold to a darker brown. In most of the written applications (with a pen nib) the ink comes across very gold. It’s only in darker applications (ink drops or q-tip swabs) where it comes across as a dark brown.
In terms of color comparisons, I didn’t have a ton in my ink “stash” that looks like Ina-ho. Most of my browns are way too brown, and the few golds I have are much lighter. My closest match was probably Colorverse Gluon, notwithstanding the sparkle.
Platinum Citrus Black is a smidge lighter than the light parts of Ina-ho, and even my lighter browns (Noodlers Rome Burning and Platinum Khaki Black) are too dark. In a sense, this is happy making because Ina-ho is a shade I truly didn’t have before!
Ina-ho performs as well as I’ve come to expect from Pilot Iroshizuku inks. It goes down wet, but dries relatively quickly. I had no issues with it flowing through any of my nibs. The holidays are coming – maybe it’s time to add a gold to your list?
- Papers: Crossfield Journal ($24.00) and Maruman Mnemosyne N182A Inspiration Notebook A5 ($10.50)
- Pen: Delike Glass Signature Pen ($37.80)
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) and Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
- Inks: Pilot Iroshizuku (15ml for $9.90)
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